The man behind some of the most memorable lyrics in the Great American Songbook steps from behind his brothers shadow.

The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (18961983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period which covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Iras own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of Americas best-loved songs, like Fascinating Rhythm, Embraceable You, and They Cant Take That Away from Me.

These fruits of Iras lyric genius sprang from the simplest of seeds: a hand-drawn weekly created for a cousin, an amateur newspaper co-written with friend and future lyricist Yip Harburg, columns in the school papers at Townsend Harris High School and, later, City College of New York. The details of his early literary efforts demonstrate both his developing ambition and the early signs of his talent. But while the road to becoming a successful lyricist was neither short nor smooth, it did lead Ira to the greatest creative partnership of his life.

George and Ira Gershwin collaborated on a string of hit Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in popular and financial success and spawned a long string of songs that have become classics. Owen offers fascinating glimpses of their creative process, drawing on Iras diaries and other contemporary sources, as well as the close relationship between the two brothers. Hollywood soon beckons and the brothers head west to California to work in the movie business. Greater fame and fortune seem right around the corner.

George Gershwin died in a Los Angeles hospital in July 1937. He was only 38 years old. His death marked a stark dividing line in Iras life, and from that point on much of his time and energy was devoted to the management of his brothers estate and the care of his legacy. Accustomed to living in his brothers shadow, it now threatened to overwhelm him. He worked to balance all the administrative tasks with a new series of collaborations with composers like Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, and Harold Arlen. Iras last Broadway work was in 1946, and several films and a book projecta collection of his lyrics with the stories behind themoccupied his later years along with the ongoing management of Georges affairs.

Ira Gershwins work with George left an enduring mark on American culture, as recognized by the Library of Congress in 2007 when it established the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which has been awarded to artists like Paul Simon, Carole King, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Elton John. InIra Gershwin: A Life in Words, Michael Owen brings the publicity shy lyricist into the spotlight he deserves.